Everett mourns a football icon

Arnold and Claire Boardman were happily married for 59 years. They did not have any children.

But the couple had hundreds of “adopted” grandchildren, players who suited for the Everett High football program during the past 50 years. Or at least that’s the joke that head coach John DiBiaso like to tell his dear friend, better known as “Arn.”

The 85-year-old Boardman, who dealt with numerous health issues the past few years, died Friday, Jan. 3 at the Lakes Region General Hospital near his home in Laconia, N.H.

Players have come and gone throughout the years of Everett’s dominance on the gridiron. But Boardman (Everett High, Class of 1946) was the official authority of all things Crimson Tide football.